BOOK LIST:

ABC (Arroyo Book Club) Fiction & Literature Updated 02/26/2024

Updated: February 26, 2024

This eclectic collection includes novels, poetry and plays, that have been read and discussed by members of the Arroyo Book Club.  Once a month they meet at the  Arroyo Seco Branch Library, and faithfully submit an annotation about the most recently read book.


Book cover for 1984
1984
Orwell, George, 1903-1950,
Call Number: Ed.m

Explore a grim, dystopian future with a government so in control of its people that it seeks to dictate how they think.  Written 70 years ago about an imagined 1984, the novel still provides warnings about social control and engineering techniques we have not yet avoided.


Book cover for All the Light We Cannot See
All the Light We Cannot See
Doerr, Anthony

Beautifully written, this story of a young blind French girl and a young German soldier, whose lives collide in France toward the end of the Nazi occupation. Watch their lives intersect in surprising ways as their fortunes are shaped by the people and world around them.


Book cover for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Chabon, Michael

This book manages to explore the world of comic books, Jewish flight from World War II-era Europe, and the magic of escapism (think Houdini), among other things.


Book cover for American gods : a novel
American gods : a novel
Gaiman, Neil.
This fantasy book explores the evolution of mythical archetypes as they are brought to America and transformed by the land and people that they find here. (Oh yeah, there is also a battle of the old vs. the new and much, much more.)

Book cover for Animal farm : a fairy story
Animal farm : a fairy story
Orwell, George, 1903-1950.
Call Number: Ed.k
This slim fairy tale provides sharp lessons about the intersection of power and personality, political manipulation, and the malleability of “truth” that remain pointedly accurate even today.
 

Book cover for Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.
Call Number: 822.33 A6Cr

Who’s really the villain in this overwrought tale of power and love? You decide.


Book cover for The Art of Racing in the Rain
The Art of Racing in the Rain
Stein, Garth
See the trials and tribulations of a family through the eyes of their wise, in his own way, dog.  It is a tale filled with wry, surprisingly true observations.
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Book cover for The awakening
The awakening
Chopin, Kate, 1850-1904.
Call Number: Ed.f

In this classic of early feminist writing, a woman bound by marriage and children in 19th century Louisiana, looks to break those bonds and find personal fulfillment.


Book cover for Away : a novel
Away : a novel
Bloom, Amy, 1953-
This novel follows Lillian, an immigrant who comes to New York from Russia in the 1920s, but when she learns that her daughter is still alive, she travels overland to Alaska to find a ship, and hopefully, her daughter.

Book cover for Batman : the Dark Knight returns
Batman : the Dark Knight returns
Miller, Frank, 1957-
Call Number: 740.914 M647-2 1996

The graphic novel credited with revolutionizing not only Batman, but all superhero comics. Miller takes a look at a Batman of the future, an old man who finds his world has passed him by, but fights on regardless. A biting, violent, disjointed take on Batman which demonstrates how a graphic novel can be as entertaining as any straight-up novel. Not a story for everyone, but an important work of comic history.


Book cover for Beach music
Beach music
Conroy, Pat.

This seductively wordy novel touches on the tragedy of both WWII and the Vietnam War, while bringing to life a wonderful set of characters.


Book cover for The beautiful things that heaven bears
The beautiful things that heaven bears
Mengestu, Dinaw, 1978-

This novel about an African immigrant and small business owner explores issues like gentrification, escaping the weight of the past, otherness in community, new and old relationships and more, all in clear, pellucid language.  


Book cover for Bless me, Ultima
Bless me, Ultima
Anaya, Rudolfo A.
Call Number: Ed.f

Young Anthony Márez tells the tale of his boyhood, his friends, his religious stirrings, the events of his small community, and the wisdom of Ultima, a curandera who became his teacher, in this lyrical novel.


Book cover for Blindness
Blindness
Saramago, Jose.

 Explore human nature in the face of adversity, in this disturbing, dystopian analysis of a society laid to waste by an epidemic.


Book cover for The Boleyn inheritance
The Boleyn inheritance
Gregory, Philippa.
This historical novel takes you into the court of King Henry VIII through the viewpoints of Anne of Cleves, Katharine Howard, and Jane Boleyn.

Book cover for The Book Thief
The Book Thief
Zusak, Markus

The story of a girl in World War II as she is separated from her family, helps her foster family shield a Jew from the Nazis, and becomes a book thief.


Book cover for The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Wilder, Thornton, 1897-1975.
Call Number: Ed.e
What role does God play in the life of man? What is the purpose of love? Examine the questions through the prism of the lives of 5 people who die when a bridge collapses and those affected by the loss.
 

Book cover for The brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao
The brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao
Di?az, Junot, 1968-

Dominican Republic

Details the experiences of Oscar and his family and friends in New Jersey and the Dominican Republic, exposing you to a rich mix of the cultures in both locations.

 


Book cover for The Buddha in the attic
The Buddha in the attic
Otsuka, Julie, 1962-

Explore the collective lives of a group of Japanese “picture brides” brought to the US in the early part of the 20th century.  Otsuka gives us a compelling yet wrenching tale of the immigrant experience in this novel.


Book cover for Caspian rain : a novel
Caspian rain : a novel
Nahai, Gina Barkhordar.

Though both of Yaas' Iranian parents are Jewish, her father's upper class family is contemptuous of her mother, who comes from an impoverished community of South Tehran.  But the real challenge to her parents' marriage is her father's love for his beautiful Muslim mistress.  Hoping to spare her daughter the misery she endures, Yaas' mother expects her daughter to excel academically, but something prevents Yaas from grasping the basics of learning.


Book cover for Ceremony
Ceremony
Silko, Leslie Marmon, 1948-
Call Number: Ed.b

Tayo, WW II vet and former prisoner of war, returns to his Laguna Pueblo reservation, but does not find any consolation for all that he endured.  Severly damaged by his experiences he searches for restoration finding some comfort in the stories and rituals of the Laguna people. Only by delving into the history, traditions, beliefs and ritual practices of his people will he find resolution.
 


Book cover for Citizen: An American Lyric
Citizen: An American Lyric
Rankine, Claudia
Call Number: 811 R2115-3

A personal work that uses a lyrical voice to describe the visceral impact of daily acts of racism. This is a difficult book, both thematically and stylistically, so be prepared to think.


Book cover for Cloud atlas : a novel
Cloud atlas : a novel
Mitchell, David (David Stephen).
This is an ambitious novel that tells a dark tale of human nature spanning thousands of years and leaves the reader looking for small ways to make sure they try to either change or rise above that nature.

Book cover for Cloud cuckoo land : a novel
Cloud cuckoo land : a novel
Doerr, Anthony, 1973-

In this novel, the same story enriches and haunts the lives of five unique characters across several centuries, featuring children on the cusp of adulthood, each facing a myriad of challenges, and all of them using the same ancient Greek story for solace and inspiration. This well crafted and haunting tale beautifully illustrates the power of storytelling to both bring comfort and transform lives.

 

Book cover for A confederacy of dunces
A confederacy of dunces
Toole, John Kennedy, 1937-1969.
This comic novel follows the adventures of the lazy Ignatius and his very put-upon mother as they stumble around the city of New Orleans.

Book cover for Cranford
Cranford
Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865.
Call Number: Ed.o

Explore the lives of a group of small town, Victorian, English women as they, sometimes humorously, grapple with daily challenges in this episodic novel.  

The novel is available on e-Media.


Book cover for The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Haddon, Mark.
A dog is murdered and someone has to find out what happened. Christopher, who is autistic, undertakes this task and in the process learns much more.

Book cover for Daughter of fortune : a novel
Daughter of fortune : a novel
Allende, Isabel.

Pregnant and abandoned in Chile by her lover who is lured by the California gold rush, sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Sommers heads to San Francisco herself.  Disguised as a boy, she spends four years searching for the man she thought she loved, all the while being guided and cared for by Tao Chi-en, a Chinese healer.This is a sweeping historical novel that follows the adventures of its heroine from her childhood in Chile to the gold fields of California as she searches for her first love.

 


Book cover for Death comes for the archbishop
Death comes for the archbishop
Cather, Willa, 1873-1947.
Call Number: Ed.c

A spare narrative that spans the life of the missionary bishop to the territory of New Mexico.  It provides snapshot moments of a deeply contemplative life while inducing a yearning to explore the geography and see the sights of the southwest desert.


Book cover for The Dictionary of Lost Words
The Dictionary of Lost Words
Williams, Pip

Williams tells the story of a life, of a woman who inherited a love of words from her father (who worked on the Oxford English Dictionary), and sought to find and keep the hidden and censored words that spoke to her own experiences as she lived through some calamitous events.


Book cover for Disgrace
Disgrace
Coetzee, J. M., 1940-

This grim book explores the lives of a man and his daughter and the myriad meanings of disgrace in South Africa. It is a challenging book that lovers of literature will find rewarding.


Book cover for Every man dies alone
Every man dies alone
Fallada, Hans, 1893-1947.

Can an ordinary citizen successfully fight against a repressive regime?  In this grim but rewarding book we follow a pair of such citizens in WWII Germany.


Book cover for Everything I never told you
Everything I never told you
Ng, Celeste.

This slender debut novel is deceptively quiet and elegantly restrained on the surface, but packs a knock-out punch. The story of how and why teenager Lydia Lee, the beautiful, brilliant, best-loved child of a 1970's mixed-race Ohio family, meets her shocking death is much more than just a Midwestern mystery. Within her very specific rendering of one family's tragedy, author Celeste Ng illuminates America's poisonous history of racism, sexism, and homophobia, but never at the expense of a suspenseful plot and a compellingly original cast of characters.


Book cover for The Eyre affair
The Eyre affair
Fforde, Jasper.
An adventure which alters the fate of the book Jane Eyre takes place in two worlds, one real and one (in some sense) meta.

Book cover for Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray, 1920-2012,
Call Number: SF Ed.k
Bradbury’s classic tale of a dystopian society that has forgone reading to the point that a fireman’s job is to start fires (of books, and any buildings where books are found) still has much to say more than 60 years after it was published.
 

Book cover for Fates and furies
Fates and furies
Groff, Lauren.

This book takes you behind the scenes of the successful marriage of two very questionable people. See both sides of the story and delve into the nuances of appearance versus reality, and how we can even fool ourselves.


Book cover for Finding Nouf
Finding Nouf
Ferraris, Zoe?.
The Saudi Arabian setting is what makes this mystery about the disappearance of a teenager stand out. Immerse yourself in the experience of day-to-day life in that country while enjoying a decently depicted mystery.

Book cover for Flatland : a romance of many dimensions
Flatland : a romance of many dimensions
Abbott, Edwin Abbott, 1838-1926.
Call Number: 827 A131 1992

Do you like the chance to get your dander up through the vehicle of satire? Do you reminisce fondly about geometry and enjoy geometric visualization? Then this is the perfect book for you.


Book cover for A Gentleman in Moscow
A Gentleman in Moscow
Towles, Amor

Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to house, or rather hotel, arrest in 1920’s Soviet Russia and watches the 20th century unfold from the rooms of that hotel in this surprisingly magical tale.


Book cover for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Larsson, Stieg, 1954-2004.

Perhaps the most famous of the current crop of Scandinavian psychological thrillers, this is the first of three novels pairing misunderstood genius Lisbeth Salander and determined journalist Mikael Blomkvist as they encounter violence and corruption to get to the bottom of a long-ago disappearance.


Book cover for The god of small things
The god of small things
Roy, Arundhati.
This novel is a stylistically challenging Booker Prize Winner that depicts a series of events in a family in India. It is reminiscent of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury.

Book cover for Hamlet
Hamlet
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.
Call Number: 822.33 H2Cr

To read or not to read Shakespeare’s tragic tale of a young Danish Prince’s very dysfunctional family? We say read. Enjoy soap operaesque plot twists and marvelous turns of phrase in a tale that has stood the test of time.


Book cover for The Help
The Help
Stockett, Kathryn.

In 1962, three Mississippi women—two black maids and a young white woman from a privileged family with dreams of becoming a writer—fight back against the established racism of the South by publishing a tell-all book about the lives of black maids in their town. A firestorm erupts.


Book cover for The House of the Spirits
The House of the Spirits
Allende, Isabel.
Call Number: Ed.d

If you are looking for a book with a complex, detail rich plot; with characters that show all the worst sides of humanity as well as characters who show moments of the goodness humanity can be capable of; and that still has room to share a larger lesson, then look no further than this engrossing tale.


Book cover for Housekeeping
Housekeeping
Robinson, Marilynne.

Two young sisters have a succession of guardians growing up in the house their grandfather built in a remote western, mountain town in this powerfully poetic novel.


Book cover for In the country : stories
In the country : stories
Alvar, Mia, 1978-

A heart-rending collection of nine vibrant short stories about the Filipino diaspora and life in Manila. The stories center on the Filipino experience both worldwide and “in the country.”

 

Book cover for Interior Chinatown
Interior Chinatown
Yu, Charles

Yu plays with literary form in new and interesting ways as he tells a story about a Chinese American bit part actor while simultaneously investigating concepts of assimilation, the history of Asian immigration, and how the self fits into society.


Book cover for Into the Beautiful North: A Novel
Into the Beautiful North: A Novel
Urrea, Luis Alberto

All the men have left Tres Camarones for the United States, leaving its residents vulnerable to abuse from local bandidos. But after 19-year-old Nayeli watches The Magnificent Seven, she and her friends hatch a plan to take back their village.


Book cover for The invention of wings : a novel
The invention of wings : a novel
Kidd, Sue Monk.

This book tells the tale of two women of the 19th century, Handful born a slave and Sarah born to a slave-owning family. The story follows their trials and tribulations across the early 1800s as Sarah grows into both an abolitionist and a feminist and Handful, horribly constrained by her circumstances, eventually makes the perilous quest for freedom.Handful and Sarah are two young women living in the same household, both desiring to find a place in the world. But these independent spirits have quite different obstacles: they are women in 19th-century South Carolina, and Handful is Sarah's slave.


Book cover for Invisible Man
Invisible Man
Ellison, Ralph.
Call Number: Ed.f

One of the landmarks of 20th-century literature, this was the only novel that Ellison published in his lifetime. It is the story of an unnamed African-American man who looks back on his brief career and his journey from the Deep South to a basement in Harlem where he has retreated after realizing that he is invisible to society. Ellison's unfinished second novel has been published posthumously as, Three Days Before the Shooting.


Book cover for A journal of the plague year
A journal of the plague year
Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731.
Call Number: Ed.c
Explore the impact of plague in 17th century London in this early attempt at a novel, and learn how little people have changed over the past 350 years. A fascinating look at a society reacting to calamity.

Book cover for The Joy Luck Club
The Joy Luck Club
Tan, Amy.
This book follows four immigrant Chinese mothers and their American born daughters in a series of vignettes that explore the impact of their life experiences on their familial relations.

Book cover for Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.
Call Number: 822.33 J9Du

Intrigue. Betrayal. Politics. Honor. Death. Find it all in this stirring tale of the last days of Julius Caesar as dramatized by William Shakespeare.


Book cover for Kindred
Kindred
Butler, Octavia E.
Call Number: SF Ed.b

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned across the years to save him. After this first summons, Dana is drawn back, again and again, to the plantation to protect Rufus and ensure that he will grow to manhood and father the daughter who will become Dana's ancestor. Yet each time Dana's sojourns become longer and more dangerous, until it is uncertain whether or not her life will end, long before it has even begun.  Butler uses an SF trope to launch into a visceral tale of slave life in the old south that raises questions about power as wielded in hierarchies, as well as its implications about race and gender.

 
 

Book cover for L.A. Weather
L.A. Weather
Escandón, María Amparo

 Witness a year in the tumultuous lives of the Alvarado family as they grapple with the secrets they’ve been keeping from each other.


Book cover for The lacuna : a novel
The lacuna : a novel
Kingsolver, Barbara.
This book follows William Shepherd, a man with a Mexican mother and an American father, as he experiences key events of the early 20th century in Mexico and in the United States. The roster of secondary characters includes Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Leon Trotsky, to name a few, and you learn a lot you didn't know about that period in history.

Book cover for The leftovers
The leftovers
Perrotta, Tom, 1961-
A somewhat different version of the “post-apocalyptic” tale (seeing as it’s not clear that an apocalypse has actually occurred), this book follows a number of people recovering from a “left behind”-type event. It is an easy read.

Book cover for Life after life : a novel
Life after life : a novel
Atkinson, Kate.

Ursula Todd has a habit of dying. She dies when she's born, in childhood accidents, in war, and yet, Ursula Todd seems to have an infinite number of lives, chances to correct her own missteps, and to intervene in the lives of others. As she follows many paths through the first half of the 20th century - as an English schoolgirl, an Air Raid Precautions worker during the Blitz, an expat in Munich, a miserable wife, and a mistress, among other things - the question presses: if Ursula can change the course of her own life, can she change history? Page-turning and wildly inventive, Life After Life is truly a book to get lost in. Atkinson explores the impact of circumstance on fortune and character by examining a reiterated life, an approach that leads to some deep philosophical, or maybe quantum mechanical, musing.


Book cover for Life of Pi: A Novel
Life of Pi: A Novel
Martel, Yann.

Pi Patel, the teenage son of a zookeeper, emigrates with his family from India to America aboard a cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes. The ship sinks and Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat with a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Pi’s fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with the tiger for 227 days lost at sea. 


Book cover for Lincoln in the bardo : a novel
Lincoln in the bardo : a novel
Saunders, George, 1958-

A tale of Willie Lincoln’s first night after interment, his father’s grief, and their combined impact on a number of souls fighting against death. Hard to describe but fascinating to read.


Book cover of Macbeth
Macbeth
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.
Call Number: 822.33 M2Cr

An ambitious man and his complicit wife, spurred by witches’ prophecy, kill their way to power leaving wrack and ruin in their wake.


Book cover for A Man Called Ove: A Novel
A Man Called Ove: A Novel
Backman, Fredrik

If you’re looking for an amusing but not light-hearted book, one that doesn’t shy away from what makes life grim and depressing, without leaving you feeling grim and depressed when you’ve finished the book, then this is the book for you. It tells the tale of a grumpy old man named Ove and what happens when new, kind of pushy, neighbors move in, a cat adopts him, and his old nemesis’ family needs help, just when he wants to end it all.


Book cover for Master and commander
Master and commander
O'Brian, Patrick, 1914-2000.
Call Number: Ed.a

This richly detailed historical novel explores British naval life in the Napoleonic Era. The first of a 20-volume series, this book introduces the principal characters and paints a fascinating picture.


Book cover for Me Before You
Me Before You
Moyes, Jojo, 1969-

Lou, a small-town British girl desperate to find a job, accepts a position assisting a wheelchair-bound young man. Will was recently paralyzed following an accident and he is angry and moody, but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves. Soon, she finds herself developing strong feelings for him, yet it turns out that Will has shocking plans of his own. Take out a tissue.


Book cover for The merchant of Venice
The merchant of Venice
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.
Call Number: 822.33 M5Cr

Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice asks you to choose between justice and mercy. Read it and decide which camp you fall in.


Book cover for A Mercy
A Mercy
Morrison, Toni

This story follows Florens, who is sold away from her mother, Jacob, the man who buys Florens, and the women in his life, and provides a look at all the forces impinging on the lives of women in the late 1600s in America.


Book cover for A midsummer night's dream
A midsummer night's dream
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.
Call Number: 822.33 M7Cr

 A lover seeking to best his beloved sets a mischievous sprite meddling in the affairs of two other couples, in this dream of a play.


Book cover for Moby Dick, or, The whale
Moby Dick, or, The whale
Melville, Herman, 1819-1891.
Call Number: Ed.x

Try the classic tale of obsession and all things whale. It is both interesting and informative and, of course, a requirement if you wish to seem well-read.


Book cover for The mysterious affair at Styles
The mysterious affair at Styles
Christie, Agatha, 1890-1976.
Call Number: M Ed.d
Poirot tackles the locked room murder of a wealthy materfamilias pinpointing “whodunit” from a horde of motive possessing relatives in this, his first case.

Book cover for The namesake
The namesake
Lahiri, Jhumpa.

Born in Boston soon after his parents arrive from Calcutta, Gogul Ganguli grows up embracing American ways that are an affront to his family’s Bengali heritage. He even legally changes his given name, which his father had chosen to honor a Russian writer he credits with saving his life.The book is beautifully descriptive, capturing 30 years in brief, relevant snippets.


Book cover for The narrow road to the deep north : a novel
The narrow road to the deep north : a novel
Flanagan, Richard, 1961-
Here is an expressively written book that tells the horrific story of Australian POWs working on the Thai-Burma Railway line for the Japanese during WWII. The nonlinear story drops in on its many characters at very different points in their lives before, during, and after the war. 
 
 

Book cover for The Night Tiger
The Night Tiger
Choo, Yangsze

This is a tale of life set in Malaysia nearly a century ago. The author masterfully weaves folk lore and the supernatural into this mysterious story that will enthrall readers and keep them guessing until the end.


Book cover for The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Call Number: M
This linked set of stories follows Mma Precious Ramotswe as she sets up a detective agency in her native country of Botswana and begins solving cases.

Book cover for The Odyssey
The Odyssey
Homer.
Call Number: 883 H72Fa
Enjoy the classic tale of a man trying desperately to get home after war, a woman trying to keep her home intact, and a boy learning to be a man in the absence of his father.


Book cover for Olive Kitteridge
Olive Kitteridge
Strout, Elizabeth.

This excellent series of what are essentially short stories, from a number of viewpoints, combine to give us a picture of a very human woman.


Book cover for On the beach
On the beach
Shute, Nevil, 1899-1960.
Call Number: Ed.a
Looking for a book almost certain to make you cry? You’ve found it.

Book cover for Outlander : a novel
Outlander : a novel
Gabaldon, Diana.
Call Number: Ed.d

A WWII nurse unexpectedly finds herself in Scotland at the time of the Jacobite uprising.  Trapped in the past she has one adventure after another and falls in love. Perfect for fans of historical fiction who like action and can get behind a bit of a romance


Book cover for The overstory : a novel
The overstory : a novel
Powers, Richard, 1957-

A tour de force centering trees, both literally and metaphorically, as the plot details the interlocking stories of a number of different people finding their places in our warming world. This multi-layered work poses many questions, leaving the reader with much to think about.


Book cover for The ox-bow incident
The ox-bow incident
Clark, Walter Van Tilburg, 1909-1971.
Call Number: Ed.e

Explore questions of justice, violence, and the mob in this dissection of a lynching set in 19th century Nevada.


Book cover for Parable of the Sower
Parable of the Sower
Butler, Octavia E.
Call Number: SF Ed.b

In a decaying America society, set in the not-too-distant future, 18-year-old empath Lauren Olamina leads a band of refugees from Southern to Northern California, sustained by belief in their new philosophy, Earthseed.


Book cover for The perfect nine : the epic of Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi
The perfect nine : the epic of Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi
Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo, 1938-

Enjoy the epic of Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi in this poetical (and feminist) interpretation of a foundational myth of the Gĩkũyũ people of Kenya.


Book cover for The Pillars of the earth
The Pillars of the earth
Follett, Ken.
Don't be put off by the size of this book. It is a compelling character-driven historical novel about a group of cathedral builders in England in the 1100s that will keep you turning pages until the end.

Book cover for Please look after mom : a novel
Please look after mom : a novel
Sin, Ky?ng-suk.
An aging woman goes missing, spurring stories of love and guilt from her family in this South Korean novel.  An interesting choice of voice and a rich level of detail help bring depth to this universal human story. A mother's disappearance in a Seoul subway station elicits reflection on the part of her children, husband and the mother herself. The children and father suddenly realize how they have taken her for granted, and reminisce about the sacrifices made by the mother.

Book cover for The poisonwood Bible : a novel
The poisonwood Bible : a novel
Kingsolver, Barbara.

Four girls share their story of being moved to the Congo by their missionary father in the early 1960s. They explore the wonders of Africa while being exposed to the misery and conflict that is both local political turmoil and international exploitation and each emerges from the crucible of this experience changed in a different way.


Book cover for A prayer for Owen Meany : a novel
A prayer for Owen Meany : a novel
Irving, John, 1942-
Call Number: Ed.a
A man reflects on the miraculous life of his friend, and explores questions of faith, fate, and politics in this complex novel.
 

Book cover for The remains of the day
The remains of the day
Ishiguro, Kazuo, 1954-
Call Number: Ed.c
 A man formerly lacking a certain amount of self-awareness, reflects on events from his past during a road trip in this evocative, thought-provoking novel.

Book cover for Richard III
Richard III
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.
Call Number: 822.33 R3Cro
An ambitious man plots, schemes, and murders to reach his goal, only to face a haunted and inglorious end.
 

Book cover for The Round House
The Round House
Erdrich, Louise
This is the story of Joe and what happened to his mother and how that dreadful event impacted him and his father and their family. Readers will find rich details of Ojibwe culture and the complex (and unjust) shadow of US politics as it impacts life on a reservation here as well.  "The Big Read" book for 2021.
 

Book cover for Snow Flower and the secret fan : a novel
Snow Flower and the secret fan : a novel
See, Lisa.
Follow the lives of a pair of women in 19th century China, and experience vicariously everything from the agony of foot binding to the atrocity of war.

Book cover for The sound of things falling
The sound of things falling
Vásquez, Juan Gabriel, 1973-

A man investigates the death of an acquaintance, and in the process explores the experiences of a generation of Colombians impacted by Escobar and the drug trade.


Book cover for The story of Edgar Sawtelle : a novel
The story of Edgar Sawtelle : a novel
Wroblewski, David.
Reviewers of this book commonly resort to describing it as Hamlet-esque - which may give you some hints as to plot elements. It is set in Wisconsin and follows the story of the mute Edgar as he grows up on a farm that breeds very special dogs.

Book cover for Sweet tooth : a novel
Sweet tooth : a novel
McEwan, Ian.
 In this work a young woman takes on the task of encouraging a novelist to write in a secret service driven plan, to foment anti-communist cultural works… or so it seems.  
 

Book cover for A tale of two cities
A tale of two cities
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Call Number: Ed.oo

 “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” We read Dickens' classic tale of a family and their friends caught up in the mill of vast societal changes.


Book cover for Their eyes were watching God
Their eyes were watching God
Hurston, Zora Neale.
Call Number: Ed.g
This lyrically written novel follows the life of an African-American woman in Florida through the early part of the 20th century.

Book cover for The thief and the dogs : a novel
The thief and the dogs : a novel
Maḥfūẓ, Najīb, 1911-2006.
Call Number: Ed.b

A recently released prisoner winds up on an ill-fated revenge quest in this stream of consciousness novel by Egyptian Nobel Winner Mahfouz.


Book cover for Things fall apart
Things fall apart
Achebe, Chinua.
Call Number: Ed.c
This book, by an African, is about the life of the Igbo people around the time the British were busy colonizing the region. It provides a interesting, informative look at a people and a place.

Book cover for This is happiness
This is happiness
Williams, Niall, 1958-

Read this book for the lyrical prose, the loving depictions of a place wreathed in the memories of youth and family and first love, and for its purely human characters and think about what is happiness for you.


Book cover for Tinkers
Tinkers
Harding, Paul, 1967-
This book has a non-linear, vaguely magical-realist/transcendentalist plot and some incredibly beautiful descriptive language. An interesting book to try to puzzle out.

Book cover for Twelfth night
Twelfth night
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.
Call Number: 822.33 T7Cro

“If music be the food of love…” Dip your toes into this enchanting tale of disguise and deception and practical jokes that go too far, with the assurance that love will come in the end.


Book cover for The underdogs
The underdogs
Azuela, Mariano, 1873-1952.
Call Number: Ed.a
This book takes a realistic and gritty look at a band of fighters during the Mexican Revolution.

Book cover for The Virginian : a horseman of the plains
The Virginian : a horseman of the plains
Wister, Owen, 1860-1938.
Call Number: W Ed.r

This book is the prototype of the western genre. It paints a picture of Wyoming in the age of the cattle rancher and establishes a particularly American mythos.


Book cover for Waiting
Waiting
Jin, Ha, 1956-
This is an intimate look at the relationship between a Chinese army doctor, his wife, and the woman he is in love with.

Book cover for Warlight
Warlight
Ondaatje, Michael

Nathaniel Williams reminisces about his life as a young boy during World War II, when he and his sister were left in the care of a mysterious stranger. Has time blurred his memory, or was there something more to the neighbor and his relationship to the young boy's parents?


Book cover for Weather : a novel
Weather : a novel
Offill, Jenny, 1968-
Offill uses a very different style to tell us of an ordinary woman living an ordinary life under the unseen, unknown, yet half-expected cloud of total disaster. A very interesting exercise that definitely deserves a read.
 

Book cover for A wizard of Earthsea
A wizard of Earthsea
Le Guin, Ursula K., 1929-2018.
Call Number: x Ed.d
First in a renowned trilogy, this inventive volume traces the life of a young boy through his apprenticeship as a wizard and as he struggles to deal with a monster spawned by his own pride.

Book cover for Z : a novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
Z : a novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
Fowler, Therese.

A biographical novel that explores the life of that ‘20s it couple, the Fitzgeralds.  Told from Zelda’s point of view, you’re left with a vivid picture of the damage that was done by the attitudes and beliefs from that time period.

 

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